Car and Driver publishes full Clarity PHEV review

P

PHEV Newbie

Well-Known Member
Happy reading:
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-honda-clarity-plug-in-hybrid-test-review

Just a few tidbits. The Clarity beat the Volt handily in both EV range and hybrid mileage. At 46 mpg, it was just a bit less than the Prius Prime (which had a terrible EV range compared the Clarity). Another takeaway is replacing those low friction Michelin Energy Saver tires with performance A/S tires will make your Clarity a very different car (but you'll pay for it in fuel efficiency).
 
Last edited:
I thought the real world high speed range test was interesting too, though things like weather need to be factored in. I also thought it was interesting it got nearly what the smaller Prius did for mpg at 75 mph. Really impressive.

They should probably leave out some of the technical details on the transmission that they didn't seem to get quite right. People won't actually care about those.

Would be nice to see some mention of tax credits since those are a point of confusion for non EV owners, and it is actually less expensive than Accord Hybrid if a person is eligible for the credits.
 
PHEV Newbie said:
Happy reading:
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-honda-clarity-plug-in-hybrid-test-review

Just a few tidbits. The Clarity beat the Volt handily in both EV range and hybrid mileage. At 46 mpg, it was just a bit less than the Prius Prime (which had a terrible EV range compared the Clarity). Another takeaway is replacing those low friction Michelin Energy Saver tires with performance A/S tires will make your Clarity a very different car (but you'll pay for it in fuel efficiency).
Click to expand...

Was there a reference to different tires in this article?
 
Viking79 said:
I thought the real world high speed range test was interesting too, though things like weather need to be factored in. I also thought it was interesting it got nearly what the smaller Prius did for mpg at 75 mph. Really impressive.
Click to expand...

I read someplace that Teslas are most efficient at 23 mph and then energy efficiency goes down for every speed increment increased after that. I've certainly noticed that I get a much better EV range in town than I do on the Freeway.

Good point on the tax credits. That always seems to be left out in the write ups.
 
Sandroad said:
Was there a reference to different tires in this article?
Click to expand...
Sorry, that was just an extrapolation on their discussion of handling. They noted that the suspension and steering is typical Honda (i.e., good handling) so the mention of the green tires, known to be negatively impact handling and braking distance, suggests that stickier tires would better utilize Honda's tuning of the suspension. Hopefully someone will swap tires soon and report on the difference.
 
PHEV Newbie said:
Sorry, that was just an extrapolation on their discussion of handling. They noted that the suspension and steering is typical Honda (i.e., good handling) so the mention of the green tires, known to be negatively impact handling and braking distance, suggests that stickier tires would better utilize Honda's tuning of the suspension. Hopefully someone will swap tires soon and report on the difference.
Click to expand...

I'm about to swap out my tires for Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 - Discount Tire has a sale, they will lower the price $50 on top of the $75 prepaid card I get from the sale, plus if I get their credit card I get another $50 off plus 6 months no interest to pay. So I'm saving $175 altogether. I have used these before, they get very good wet traction, which is needed in this part of the country, and good snow traction for an all season tire. I'll report back after I've driven on them a bit. The real test will be once the rain starts later in the year. Hopefully I can sell the Michelins on Craig's List for a decent price, not sure what I will ask for them, they cost over $200 each new it appears. If I could get $100 each that would be good probably.
 
Highland58 said:
I'm about to swap out my tires for Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 - Discount Tire has a sale, they will lower the price $50 on top of the $75 prepaid card I get from the sale, plus if I get their credit card I get another $50 off plus 6 months no interest to pay. So I'm saving $175 altogether. I have used these before, they get very good wet traction, which is needed in this part of the country, and good snow traction for an all season tire. I'll report back after I've driven on them a bit. The real test will be once the rain starts later in the year. Hopefully I can sell the Michelins on Craig's List for a decent price, not sure what I will ask for them, they cost over $200 each new it appears. If I could get $100 each that would be good probably.
Click to expand...
Looking forward to hear about your experience. When you do list the Michelins for sale, you should mention it on this forum. They're actually excellent green tires so there's probably a lot of Clarity owners who would be glad to buy them.
 
PHEV Newbie said:
Sorry, that was just an extrapolation on their discussion of handling. They noted that the suspension and steering is typical Honda (i.e., good handling) so the mention of the green tires, known to be negatively impact handling and braking distance, suggests that stickier tires would better utilize Honda's tuning of the suspension. Hopefully someone will swap tires soon and report on the difference.
Click to expand...

From my previous experience making that exact change on a Prius PHEV, yes, it made a big difference in handling and about a 15% reduction in EV range. Kind of hard to extrapolate that to the Clarity, though. It's a much heavier car.
 
bfd said:
From my previous experience making that exact change on a Prius PHEV, yes, it made a big difference in handling and about a 15% reduction in EV range. Kind of hard to extrapolate that to the Clarity, though. It's a much heavier car.
Click to expand...

Wow, that's a monster decrease! If it held the same for the Clarity, for me it would mean going from about 60 mpc to about 51 mpc. When the Tire Rack tests for mpg differences in tires, it's almost always small single digit deltas----maybe like 1% to 4%. Those Continentals must be real squishy?
 
bobcubsfan said:
Curious that NO reviewer has experienced the ICE issue, or at least, has failed to report it.
Click to expand...
Bob, are you talking about the noise? The Car & Driver review mentioned this for the low points of the car:
“Drones when the internal-combustion engine is running, not particularly swift, pricier than the Accord hybrid.”
 
bobcubsfan said:
No, Ken, I mean the ICE issue. No reviewer has mentioned that the ICE comes online randomly.
Click to expand...
I've only seen that a couple of times, generally after 4-6 weeks of EV only driving. In my case, I have to assume it is intentional despite being random.
 
Going back to the OP....

I think the review is off. I would venture to say that most clarity PHEV buyers are not torn between a standard hybrid (such as the accord) and the clarity. We’re torn between other PHEVs and/or BEVs such as the Bolt or Model 3. So comparing to the Accord is just a strawman argument.
 
Carro con enchufe said:
Going back to the OP....

I think the review is off. I would venture to say that most clarity PHEV buyers are not torn between a standard hybrid (such as the accord) and the clarity. We’re torn between other PHEVs and/or BEVs such as the Bolt or Model 3. So comparing to the Accord is just a strawman argument.
Click to expand...
You're absolutely correct given the posts in this forum. The usual times hybrids come up is when a poster is interested in the Clarity but has no charging options at home. Otherwise, the discussion is about other PHEVs and BEVs (sometimes even the fuel cells!).
 
Exactly, my requirements included it having a plug and be able to hold 5 people relatively comfortably and be less than $40k before incentives. This limited my selection to literally two vehicles. The Pacifica Hybrid and the Clarity. The Accord Hybrid wasn't even on my radar (although I was aware of it). The PacHy was closer to $48k how we wanted it equipped and wife wanted to get away from a Minivan. Plus, we do drive a lot of gas miles still and the Clarity was much better MPG without charge.

There was too much wait for Model 3 LR and price was a bit too high and service inconvenient where we live or it would have been on the list as well (but we travel to areas without superchargers at times so might have been difficult).
 
bobcubsfan said:
Curious that NO reviewer has experienced the ICE issue, or at least, has failed to report it.
Click to expand...
he did complain of the droning ICE, which I never hear on the highway. it never comes on for me around town. I hope they can fix yours.
 
Highland58 said:
I'm about to swap out my tires for Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 - Discount Tire has a sale, they will lower the price $50 on top of the $75 prepaid card I get from the sale, plus if I get their credit card I get another $50 off plus 6 months no interest to pay. So I'm saving $175 altogether. I have used these before, they get very good wet traction, which is needed in this part of the country, and good snow traction for an all season tire. I'll report back after I've driven on them a bit. The real test will be once the rain starts later in the year. Hopefully I can sell the Michelins on Craig's List for a decent price, not sure what I will ask for them, they cost over $200 each new it appears. If I could get $100 each that would be good probably.
Click to expand...

Those holiday sales at Discount Tire are very good deals. BUT--I'd advise against switching to any other brand of tire. If you want more performance (and don't mind losing some range) get a Michelin Pilot HX MXM4, which is OEM on luxury performance cars like BMWs. I've bought many tires over the years and any time I stray from Michelins I have problems. The current set of Continentals I bought for our Prius has caused the car to pull mysteriously, sometimes left, sometimes right, and sometimes not at all. After many trips back to the store, and many swaps of the four tires to various positions on the car, we were finally able to isolate one bad tire, which, I am told, has a manufacturing defect called conicity. Continental, like many other tire companies, makes lots of its tires in old US factories, in this case a former General Tire plant, and quality suffers. Michelin is the only tire company I know of that has successfully maintained its quality control even when making tires in the U.S. If you get a good set from another brand, you're lucky. Fortunately, Discount and Continental are easy to deal with if you do have a defect--just go back within 60 days and they'll give you a refund.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top